The soft look is in vogue in some quarters, but as this was a subject I preferred to have sharp from edge to edge I took the time to make sure that my camera plane was squared up to that of the subject. In other words, its sharp from edge to edge because my technique matched the goals I had in mind for the final image.[Image 1]

Too often we take such pictures at an angle to the subject leaving only a small portion of it in sharp focus. You could small aperture it to death, but even f.64 isnt going to compensate because macro shots are inherently devoid of good depth of field.

I didnt shoot a sample wrong shot at the time, so the next image has been adjusted so that only a central portion is apparently sharp, and now it looks like its a hand-held shot with an aperture in the vicinity of f.5.6 or so.[Image 2] Ahem, looks familiar doesnt it! Now perhaps this is your preferred technique, but for myself as the viewer, I find it to be more distracting than anything else.

Cropping improves it somewhat, but now, to state the obvious, its not exactly the shot I had set out to create originally.[Image 3]

AND THE GOAL IS ... So, the lesson is, when youre setting up a shot of this nature, do take the time to get it right. This will most likely include the use of a tripod, an aperture of f.16 or smaller, and careful alignment of your camera plane to to the subject.

BACKGROUND CONTROL I had subdued background for the original shot, but had I had a busy or distracting background, I could have controlled that with the following options: A: Used a wider aperture. By using your depth of field preview you can open up your aperture until the background distractions have softened, and/or
B: Prevent light falling onto those background distractions. By this Im suggesting that you cast a shadow on those distractions to dampen their impact. Obviously Im referring to when direct sunlight is present, and you can create the shade you need by casting your own shadow behind the subject, placing a dark object such as a cloth back there, or create what you need digitally.

ON THE OTHER HAND
What can we do to rescue the incorrect image at the  digital processing stage? Sharpening it to death isnt going to cut it, so lets play a bit with Adobe PhotoShops filters. As the following images attest, you can miss an important detail at the shooting stage, but then dial-up some miracle software such as PhotoShop, and its "Not over until the fat lady sings."[Images 4, 5, 6 and 7] As Ive done with image 4, experiment manipulating the manipulated, and inject some of your own creativity into the project.

The only limit is your imagination. Good shooting!

John Baker, Travel Images

© John Baker/TravelImages, 2006

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